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Gratitude Attitude = Excessive Happiness…

May it be my theme from now on, since I seem to be drawn to it more each day…

I have set some new goals for myself today & this blog post was one of them… I am grateful for the Divine Guidance that is providing the words that I’m using to help me to reach this goal…

I once read about this person who had always led an active life, while in advancing age, had prayed that despite any challenges that life might have in store for her that when it came her time that they write on her headstone, “She died climbing”… I would like that to be my epitaph when my time comes also…

I want to thank those of you who take the time to read my blog… I’d like to invite you to visit my new FB page,

Like only if you do & share what you will…

I like to believe that Divine Guidance is what has brought me this far & at 75, I love where I’m at today…

At 67 I was involved in an accident that left me physically unable to perform my duties for the best job I ever had… I was with the company for 17 years… I lost my job… While struggling to keep our heads above water, (the housing crises was in progress), we discovered that my husband Billy needed a triple bypass… He had just reached retirement age so he thankfully he was covered by Medicare… One month later he underwent surgery for a tumor that was on his spine… They discovered that he had Stage 4 Melanoma… August of 2010 we didn’t know that anything was wrong with him… By November of that year he was gone… Towards the end I prayed that God take him quickly so that he would no longer have to suffer… Our doctor was like his guardian angel who helped him see this through, our doctor & Hospice who I can’t thank enough for making him comfortable in his final day here on earth… It was like now that he was finally comfortable that he could let go…

Billy was a Navy Seal who served our country for 37 months in Vietnam… We had been together for 15 years & married for 7… He was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life… I am so proud of him & his service… He was the smartest man that I’ve known & I learned so much from him… Unfortunately I wasn’t eligible for any benefits because we would have to have been married for 10 years before I could receive anything through the VA… His Social Security was cut from our SS check because we weren’t married long enough…

I was already behind in our house payments… I knew that I couldn’t maintain our little house… Billy had so many projects that were left unfinished because he had gotten sick, but I tried so hard because we had two Great Danes that were like our kids… If anyone doesn’t believe that dogs can make a difference in a Veteran’s life I’d like to tell them a story about dogs & PTSD,,, It was my privilege to see that miracle happen with my own eyes after we had gotten together… In my heart I knew that I would have to move to an apartment & that meant that I would have to surrender our beloved “Bubba” & Patch… While I dreaded doing that, I knew that I couldn’t keep them… I moved forward with “Mission Impossible” & it was through a friend of ours that I learned of Southwest Florida Great Dane Rescue… These wonderful people reassured me that they would find good homes for each & they did… Now I was ready… I gave the house back to the bank because we had no real equity in it, I surrendered our two babies & found an apartment immediately, almost without looking & it suited my needs perfectly… It was a little complex in our neighborhood that we had always found remarkable in the way that it was maintained… It just so happened that they had a for rent sign out front & I rented it immediately… Talk about Divine Guidance… I’ve been here for over two years now & just renewed my lease for another two years…

Though I’ve seen some pretty rough times I have always been provided with, while not necessarily all of my wants, but definitely all of my needs… I’m forever grateful that my Faith was strong enough to see me through all of this… I feel that I have now come out on the other side… This is the reason for my forever gratitude…